Alive
by Fenikkusu Ai
Summary: Aoyama liked to talk. Character study of some sort.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds.

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Aoyama enjoyed talking. Because words were free even if he himself could not be. The vowels and consonants could flow effortlessly between the networking of cells, through metal bars, and across long linoleum-floored corridors that yawned on forever where guards could stash unruly prisoners for weeks, months, or years if they saw fit.

One boring gray day in the boring gray facility, Aoyama spied a not-so-boring thing. The fuzzy black and tan striped moth drifted over his head before landing on the blank featureless wall. For once, something was _alive_.

"Hey guys, look at this!"

The groans were mandatory.

"Shut up, Aoyama!"

"What? Ya see another in the ceiling?"

"He gets hyped up over _anything_…"

And other assorted negativity.

He wondered how the little moth had flown inside the confines of their "happy" little prison and even if it could get out again. It had been an innocent mistake on the moth's part. Just like it had been his own innocent mistake to get mixed up in this in the first place.

Aoyama really didn't see the harm of manipulating the rules for the good of all. Like when he had breached security time and again for his friends—oh, little mechanical "accidents" when the security sector wasn't looking that may have left a convenient door open or a lucky electrical short that took down a specific web of cameras; allowing total access when wishing to remain unseen. Footsteps would echo in the dark as the guards scrambled and shouted for reinforcements, but they would always be long gone in the nick of time. He wasn't half-bad with computers either. A fake name was just as good as a real one if that ID took you where you wanted to go, especially when authority deemed your real name as inferior. Soon enough, Neo Domino became Aoyama's home away from home. If you kept to the backstreets, and knew whose residence was safe and whose was not, you could risk a week-long stay…or more.

But, the bad thing about friends is that you never knew who could be trusted.

That's exactly how he had ended up here in the first place.

The prison could have easily turned into torture, but Aoyama had his own ways of surviving. As long as his mind was busy; he'd find a way out. Every time he brought out "that spoon" and sank it into the packed dirt; he was working his way to _freedom_. Spoonful after spoonful. It paid to think ahead—to invest your misery now to cash in on future happiness. Oh, yes. Delusion was becoming his new best friend. Ultimately, it would betray him as well.

He knew he was a deviant in the eyes of the guards. He knew that they had been eyeing him up for a long time. There was an old saying that the nail that sticks out gets hammered. Perhaps he _was_ admittedly a bit of a troublemaker and made no attempt to hide his mischievous ways. Aoyama said what was on his mind, and he knew himself that he was quite impulsive. The cafeteria had become a literal minefield for him with its perpetual shouting and steaming food fights. Sometimes, the guards broke it up. Sometimes, they just watched the rice and assorted soups fly and gush for their own amusements.

And Kohei Aoyama just couldn't resist a good food fight. He had to have his own amusements after all.

He would never forget that look of complete disgust when the skinny guard approached him one Tuesday afternoon when he had first arrived there while flat on his back on the floor and completely covered in tomato and bean stains. Aoyama remembered he had smiled sheepishly, knowing that he was in very deep trouble while extending a hand that was cupped full of food. "Hungry?"

The guard drew back his balled fist and struck Aoyama right across his chin. He remembered the red dribbling on the concrete as he was dragged away to a private cell.

That was the first time he had been hit, in prison anyway, and the first time he had entered lockdown. It wasn't so much that he had broken the rules; it was that he had exhibited some humanity; finding humor in the grave situation and not groveling by the man's knees like a bit of unworthy trash begging some omnipotent god.

After a while, he was labeled as a long-term resident "dangerous outsider"—a hopeless case. Here, he remained.

He held out his finger and brushed against the moth's wings. Startled, it took flight and flew towards the light overhead. As Aoyama followed the insect's movement, he locked eyes with his roommate. He was looking too.

"Did you see it?" Aoyama was breathless with excitement.

His roommate rolled his eyes. "It's a bug."

"Yeah? Well, when's the last time you saw an _actual_ bug?" His mouth was getting ahead of himself again.

No answer. The other man shrugged before rolling over on his side to sleep.

Needless to say, Aoyama wasn't too upset when his roommate was moved elsewhere. The guy was often in a sour mood and preferred to remain silent; wrapped up in his own thoughts and regrets. The only downside was now he had _no one_ to talk to. Maybe he had even been freed or maybe his former roommate was in a place worse off than this. That thought alone made him clutch the blankets a little closer to himself at night in his now silent cell. Maybe they would even come for him one of these days, but he couldn't think about that now. His plan for freedom was almost ready to go into effect--a plan that now included someone else.

Instead of being carted away, he was almost delighted when he had gotten himself a new roommate. However, this one didn't like to talk too much either. It was shame for the simple act of communicating could take your mind back to cherished memories or became the stepping stones for a new friendship. Still, the very fact that Yusei was quiet meant he could most likely keep a secret. Therefore, he had no qualms about showing Yusei the hole and the plan for escape in detail.

Sadly, things didn't go as planned.

Aoyama was disappointed to say the least when Yusei decided to play hero on behalf of the entire prison block; jeopardizing his own plan for freedom in the process. After silently cursing as he stomped away, he reflected on his own petty desire to leave everybody behind. His original motivations "for the good of all" and present intentions of "freedom" now mashed against each other.

Then, Aoyama did something he never expected to do—he changed his mind.

Needless to say, when the blue-eyed Satellite stranger stood against the burly dictatorial Takasu in front of his own eyes; Aoyama completely changed his mind about his standoffish roommate Yusei.

And about his own reckless amusements.

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A/N: I took a lot of 'what ifs' with this in that I invented a sort of backstory for Aoyama. Since, he's such a minor character, there's nothing really official about him. Heck, I just wanted something about Aoyama. And more prison/detention center fics.


End file.
